It's Good To Have You Back
by cantdenytruelove
Summary: How I think "The Merger" should have gone


The Stamford people were coming today.

Everyone was getting ready for the new arrivals. Michael and Dwight were going around the office setting up name plates on empty desks so everything would be ready once the newcomers arrived. Michael had sent Pam out to the store to pick up some champagne, snacks, and plates and things so they could have a party later in the day.

Once she was done helping Angela set things up in the conference room, Pam returned to her desk, eager to see a certain tall, shaggy haired, good looking man walk through the door.

She heard the door open and looked up quickly hoping it was her friend coming through, but sadly it wasn't. Instead it was a woman wearing a pink shirt. Pam thought that the woman looked like she didn't want to be there. As the new office member approached Michael and Dwight and received her gift bag, Pam began to question whether or not she was ready for today to happen. _Oh well_, she thought, _it's already here, might as well make the best of it._

A few minutes later she the door opened again to find a rather large man, larger than Kevin, walk into the room. He had a similar expression that the woman, Hannah, had. _If everyone in Stamford acted like they would die if they smiled once, then how did Jim manage to stay over there for so long?_ Pam thought to herself once again. She began to think that maybe Jim wouldn't be the same Jim she saw five months ago. Would he still look like Jim? Would he still laugh at all the same stuff they used to laugh at? Would he laugh at all?

A short time later a small woman entered. _She looks nice,_ Pam thought. _Maybe we could become friends._ So before she knew it Pam was standing up and leaning over her desk introducing herself. "Karen," the woman said. Michael came over and said some things she didn't really want to acknowledge. After Karen left to go to her new desk Pam began to wonder if the woman she just shook hands with was the reason Jim stayed in Stamford, even though she had broken off her engagement. She was very pretty, Pam wasn't going to deny it, but could Jim get over her already? _I hope not._ Pam thought.

And then a kind of short man came into the office and unlike the previous people, this man had a rather large smile on his face. _Okay, at least some people smiled in Connecticut._ She sat and watched as the man named  
Andy introduced himself and began chatting with Michael. _Oh no! It's like Dwight and Michael as one! Poor Jim…wait, poor us!!!_

Pam began to wonder why it was taking so long for Jim to get there. _I hope it's just traffic._ Before she could even finish her thoughts, two men had walked in. One she did not know, but she didn't really care about him because she was too busy starring at the man he was talking to. There, standing not 10 feet from her was one Jim Halpert, wearing a blue and navy blue scarf along with a new coat on top of his, blue dress shirt, his hair still ruffled like he hadn't brushed it, and the best thing he always wore, his smile.

She waited as patiently as she could as Michael began to joke around with Jim, she heard the word 'traitor,' but she could care less what Michael was saying. She was too busy starring at him. He was there, actually there, in the office. She was afraid she'd never see him again.

"Hi I'm Jim, I'm new here."

Before she could think, she was running towards him, "Oh, my God it's really you!" She said as she immediately flung her arms around his neck. He wrapped his strong arms around her back. God how she missed those arms.

"I was just doing a little joke there about how we'd never met."

She knew what he was doing, and it's those little things like that makes her fall even more.

"I know, I don't care." Why did she say that?!

"Awesome! Good to be back." Well, at least he still remembers that she likes his jokes. She laughed and there was that dreaded pause she was afraid of. "The place looks really good." She didn't overlook the fact that as he said that he scanned her body.

"It's really good to see you."

"You, too."

He smiled at her again and said see you later as he went to his desk. Once she heard Jim was coming back she talked to Ryan about the possibility of Jim having his old desk back, because she knew Jim wasn't going to ask for the desk back and she didn't want Jim at any other desk. Ryan was skeptical on the issue, but once Pam offered to take Kelly out on whatever night Ryan wanted off, he couldn't back down. So he moved to the desk across from Dwight.

She sat back down and pretended to work as she glanced over and watch Jim make himself at home, by messing with Dwight. It was great to have her prankster back.

Thirty minutes later, Michael called everyone into the conference room for the "Orientation video." As they all filed in Jim snatched a snack when Dwight and Michael weren't looking. Technically he wasn't a "new employee" at Scranton, but it didn't stop him from taking a snack.

She sat next to Jim as they all began to listen to Michael welcome the new employees. After introducing the video Jim whispered to Pam, "Oh, this looks promising."

"You won't be disappointed." She replied. She knew he would enjoy it because she filmed it and knew everything that the video contained. A Michael and Dwight rap.

No sooner than she said that she noticed Jim turn around and saw Karen hand him a piece of gum. She looked back at Karen once Jim faced the table. _Hmm…_ she thought. _That was…odd._ She turned back around and put her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm as she began to think about what just happened.

_They seem, comfortable with each other, too comfortable._

They began to watch Michael's video. Before the first verse was even over, Pam looked at Jim and saw that his mouth was hanging open and his gum was about to fall out of his mouth. She laughed silently to herself as she leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "I told you, you wouldn't be disappointed."

Jim turned and smiled at her. "Why am I surprised? Did you help film this?"

Pam nodded.

"How in the world were you able to keep a straight face during this?"

"Oh believe me…I had to bite the inside of my cheek so many times. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that you were going to sit through this and laugh along with me."

Jim smiled and said, "Well, you were right, I'm laughing with you."

Pam smiled and continued to watch the movie.

Once it was done no one said a word. Jim turned to Pam and shared on of their silent look-and-giggles between each other. How she missed these moments with her best friend.

Later, after everyone had returned to their desks, Pam was finally able to take a moment and look and make sure Jim was still at his desk, except, he wasn't there. He was standing near Karen and, what was that, he was laughing with her. She seemed to be setting her voice mail up and he was joking around with her. Pam couldn't ignore the jealousy she was feeling right now. _They can't be seeing each other,_ she thought. _They haven't even known each other that long. Am I too late?_ She pushed the matter aside and busied herself with some work.

A little while later she noticed Jim get up from his desk and head towards the break room. She decided she would follow and maybe get a chance to speak to him. As she entered the break room she noticed he got a water instead of his usual, grape soda.

_Oh no, he has changed._ She thought

"Hey."

"Hey."

"What happened to grape soda?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm trying to move away from that. Getting into more of a bottled water phase."

Pam had to state the obvious. "You've changed so much."

"Well, I'm evolving, Pam." He said jokingly.

She really wanted to get a chance to talk to him, outside of work, and find out what all is going on with him.

"So when do I get to hear everything? Are you still getting unpacked, or you wanna grab a coffee or something after work?" She held her breath, afraid that he was going to turn her down.

He lifted his eyebrow in the way that says he's about to apologize.

"Tonight, actually? No, I'm just still getting settled, so…"

_Dang it_

"Well, I really want to talk to you. How about you and I go grab a quick coffee after work and I come over and help you unpack your stuff?"

Jim hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Yeah actually, that sounds great. So meet at," he looked at his watch. "Five oh five at your desk?"

She smiled. It was so great to have Jim back.

"Five oh five, my desk." They nodded as he walked passed her and she pretended to look at the vending machines in front of her. She couldn't let anyone notice how much she was smiling, so she continued to stare at the vending machines. After she was certain she had her smile under control and that she had memorized the entire vending machine, she turned around and exited the break room and headed for her desk.

The day continued on like any other day. Michael tried to inspire everyone; Dwight was, well, Dwight; someone quit, well that wasn't normal, but it wasn't a big surprise either.

After Tony left, everyone went back to their desks and began to leave for the day. Karen went over to Jim's desk and she couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"So, are you going to show me around the town tonight like you said you would?"

"Um, actually can I have a rain check? I'm going to catch up with an old friend of mine tonight. It's important that I talk to her tonight. You're not mad are you?"

Pam glanced up and saw the look on Karen's face, she looked disappointed. "No sure, go ahead. I'll, um, see you tomorrow then?"

"See you Filippelli."

As Karen walked by she smiled at Pam. She smiled back as she watched her walk out of the office. Pam shut down her computer and began gather her stuff when she heard someone walk up to her desk.

"You ready Beesly?"

Pam glanced at the clock on her phone. "It is 5:10 Halpert, you are 5 minutes late. You're going to have to make that up."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "Now how am I going to that?"

Pam got up from her chair as she said, "By me coffee?"

"It's a deal Beesly."

They exited the building as they walked to their cars. They left and headed to the local Starbucks, entered the building together and stood in line waiting for their turn at the counter. While standing in line they noticed a guy sitting at one of the tables had a toupee that wasn't on right. They stood there and continued to joke about the bad toupee man until it was their turn to order. Pam ordered a coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon and Jim ordered a Café Vanilla Frappaccino. Jim paid for their drinks and once they received them they sat down and continued giggling at the toupee man across the room.

Once the laughter had died down Jim decided to start the conversation. "Alright Pam, so what do you want to know?"

"Well, tell me about Stamford. Did you like it more than Scranton, or are you glad to be back?"

Jim paused before answering. "Well, it wasn't home. It was nice, but it just wasn't home." He realized he was starring at Pam a little too long while he said that and decided to continue by starring at the drink in his hand. "I didn't really make any friends up there besides Karen, but I still don't know what we are so…"

"Oh, are you and Karen…" She couldn't say it.

"Um, no. No, we're not. But I don't know, I kind of like her. I just don't know if I'm ready to date someone yet."

"What's keeping you from asking her?"

Jim looked up from the table he had been starring at for the past couple of minutes. "Do you really want me to answer that Pam?"

She was hoping it was because he still had feelings for her.

"Jim, I just have to know something. Why did you move to Stamford? You left without saying goodbye. I was actually hurt when I heard you transferred and didn't even say goodbye to me."

Jim laughed to himself somewhat and hesitated before answering in a voice so low, Pam had to lean in a little bit just to hear him. "I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be 5 feet from you after you married him. I knew I couldn't work in the same office as you knowing that I couldn't be with you. So I figured that Stamford was the right move for me."

Pam nodded because she understood what he was going through.

Now it was time to take a dive. She took one deep breath before saying, "Jim…"

He looked up from his spot he was starring at on the table again and met her gaze.

"I was wrong."

He didn't understand what she was saying. "You were wrong about what?"

"I didn't really make myself clear that night when you told me your feelings. I didn't mean to say 'I can't.' I was just so overwhelmed by everything that had just happened; I didn't know what to say. So I said the first thing that came to my mouth. What I should have said was, 'give me time.'"

Jim still didn't fully understand. "Give you time for what?"

Pam smiled as she explained. "Give me time to sort things out. Jim, I was with Roy for 10 years. That's a long time, and there was no way for me to be able to end something with someone I've spent a third of my life with in one night. I needed to think things through. Once I did, I came to work that Monday and found out that you were gone. I was hurt Jim. I was hurt because you didn't wait. I understand that you took a leap that night, but I just needed some time."

She was crying now. She tried to wipe away the tears before Jim could she but it was too late. He reached across the table and wiped away a stray tear from her cheek.

"I'm sorry Pam, I had no idea. I thought you had made up your mind when you turned me down, twice, that night and I thought that best thing for me to do was to move. I had already talked to Jan before I talked to you that night. I figured I had to let you know…once, before I left. I couldn't live with myself if I let you marry him without knowing how I felt about you."

Pam smiled as she covered his hand that was still on her face. "And I thank you for letting me know what my options were."

Jim removed his hands as they fell back into silence.

"So…"

"So…"

They laughed and Jim let her go first.

"What's going to happen now?"

Jim thought. "Well, Pam I left for about 5 months and I am still not over you. You're still my best friend; nothing is ever going to change that. But I still want to be more than that."

"I'd like that."

Jim thought he didn't hear her correctly. He asked, while beginning to smile, "Say that again?"

Pam grinned. "I want to be more than just friends with you Jim."

Now he knew that she was serious, she called him 'Jim.' They smiled at each other and continued to drink their drinks while Jim continued to tell Pam about Stamford and they discussed all the things they could do to Andy and Dwight.

"When I saw him today, I thought he was Michael and Dwight joined together! How did you not go crazy in Stamford?!"

"Well, I did end up putting Andy's calculator in jello. But once I did that I found out he has a temper problem and kind of let that be. So we need to save Andy for when we're really bored."

Pam agreed and discussed what their next prank on Dwight was going to be.

Once their drinks were empty they stood up from their table to throw them away and exited the building and walked to their cars before Pam asked, "So am I still helping you unpack your things?"

"Hey, I agreed to have a coffee with you if you would help me unpack my stuff, are you bailing out on me?"

She smiled. It was good to have Jim back.

"I'll help you. Are you still living with Mark?"

"No, I decided that I would live on my own for a while. I'm leasing a place about 10 minutes from the office."

She nodded. "Alright, lead the way."

As they headed towards his apartment, Pam began to think about what had just happened. So were they now a couple? She should ask him, just to be sure. What would everyone in the office think? Is this really happening? Was she really dating Jim, her best friend? She couldn't stop smiling all the way to his apartment.

Once they arrived, they walked up and entered his apartment.

_This is nice _she thought.

Jim took her coat and hung it up on the coat rack. "Do you want something to drink?" he offered.

"Um sure, whatever you have will be fine."

He laughed. "I'm afraid all I have at the moment is water."

"Oh, okay sure."

"Why don't you go ahead and have a seat on the couch, I'll be over there in a second."

She did what he said and took her time as she walked over to the couch by looking around his apartment. She noticed that he did in fact still have some unpacking to do. He had some of the necessities out already, like the couch and a few chairs and a few tables and what man doesn't go ahead and hook up the TV with cable. She sat down when she noticed he had a few picture frames sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She leaned over and studied the pictures before her.

One was of Jim and his two brothers. She had never met them but Jim has told her so many stories of them growing up. There were both married now and either had children or had one on the way. She moved on to the next photo and saw an elderly couple smiling back at her. She guessed that they were Jim's parents. She saw his smile in the man's picture and could see his dimples in the woman's. When she was done with that photo she looked at the last one. It was of her and Jim at the Christmas party last year. _He must have gotten it from Michael. _She thought because she didn't remember Jim having a camera at the party. She only remembered Michael going around snapping picture after picture. Now that she thought of it, she did remember this picture being taken. Michael had come up to them when she was going through her teapot full of bonus gifts when Michael told them to stand next to each other.

She starred at the picture and saw the huge smile on her face. _I was so happy being there with him. Why didn't I realize this sooner? _She wondered. Before she realized it, Jim was standing next to her handing her a glass of water. She thanked him and took the glass and began to drink some of it as he sat down next to her. She continued to stare at the photo of them when Jim noticed what she was starring at.

"Oh, um." He started. "Michael gave that to me. He framed it and everything. I thought it was just a great picture of us so I decided to put it out on the table with the rest of the people I care about." He realized what he was saying and stopped. _Gosh she must think I'm such an idiot._ He said to himself.

She smiled and turned to him. "I think it's a great picture of us. Why didn't I know about it?"

He shrugged. "I thought he gave you a copy of it. Now that I think about it, he did give it to me after the booze cruise, so that might explain why he gave it to me."

"What happened on the booze cruise?"

"For some stupid reason, I decided to tell Michael that I had a thing for you at one point. Don't you remember me telling you?"

"Oh yeah, I thought you said that you were over it?"

"I obviously lied." He looked up to see her looking back at him. She smiled thinking about how much has changed just in a few months of her life.

"Well, I think the bigger question is why on earth you chose to tell Michael Scott of all people?! You know he can't keep a secret!"

They laughed together. "I know! I quickly found that out. I tried everything in my power to keep him from telling anyone. I even went to Hooters with the man to keep him from yapping his big mouth. But nope, it slipped out while he was trying to get Toby to get the company to pay for our meal."

He put his face in his hands and Pam couldn't help but laugh.

"Aw, you poor thing. That must have been awful for you"

"You have no idea! No sooner than they found out, everyone was telling me how sorry they were for me because I liked you and because you were engaged! I didn't want you finding out from Kelly or Phyllis or even worse Angela, so that's why I decided to tell you myself that day, even though I kind of fudged it a bit."

"Well, I'm glad you told me."

He looked up and met her smile. They sat there drinking their waters in silence for a little bit.

"So," Pam started. "Should we get started unpacking some of this stuff?" she said as she looked around the room, seeing all the boxes.

"You know, you don't have to help me. I can do it myself."

"Well, I'm already here, might as well help you out. Come on let's get started."

"Alright, I don't have much. I already have my bedroom, bathroom and most of the living room done. I think together we'll get done in no time."

They began working in the living room first and once they finished putting up the books in the bookshelves they moved into the kitchen and put the dishes in the cupboards. After about an hour and a half, they were done and went back into the living room and sat down on the couch to rest.

"Well, that was quicker than I expected. I thought I had a few hours of work ahead of me. Thanks a lot for helping me out Pam."

"No problem."

They sat there for a few minutes in that dreaded silence again before Pam's stomach started growling. Jim couldn't help but to laugh at the awkward moment.

"Oh you so did not just laugh at the fact that I'm starving right now!"

Jim took a few seconds to stop his laughing before replying "Haha, I'm sorry. It was just dead silent and then your stomach just decided to cuss both of us because we haven't fed it yet. Do you want to stay and order a pizza or something?"

Pam considered it for a minute. "Sure. It's better than sitting at home alone eating."

Jim nodded and grabbed the phone and dialed the number. While he ordered Pam sat starring at him and concentrated listening on his voice. She loved the sound of his voice. It was just so masculine and sex. _No, no Pam, you can't think those thoughts. You haven't even kissed him yet. Well, you have, but not since you've been single. _Pam tried to focus her attention on the TV that was turned off in front her while she waited for Jim to get off the phone. He hung up the phone a few seconds later and turned to her. "It'll be here in about 30 minutes. So what should we do while we wait for our pizza?"

Pam thought for a moment. What did she want to do with Jim? What didn't she want to do with Jim? Whatever they did she always had the best time whenever she was with him. She couldn't imagine him having fun with anyone else but her. She thought he probably did, but it wasn't the same. Then she remembered seeing him and Karen that day.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, is there something going on between you and Karen? Because seeing her around you today, it kind of looked like she had a thing for you."

Jim groaned. "Ah damn it, I forgot. She does. I think she's expecting something to happen. I feel so bad. I was going to ask her out, but that was only because I was trying to get over you. Now that I don't really need to do that, I guess I need to talk to her. I'll do it tomorrow; I'm having too much fun here with you."

Pam couldn't help but smile. _He wants to stay with me. Gosh he is too perfect! _

She nodded, understanding what he meant. "I'm having fun too."

Jim nodded in agreement. They sat in silence for moment before Jim said, "Pam, I'm really glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here too."

There was no hiding the smile on either of their faces. She looked down and noticed how close he was to her. _How did I not notice this before? _She was looked into his eyes and saw that he was lifting his hand up and cupped her face and then, ever so slowly, he was kissing her. It was a soft and gentile kiss. They pulled back and looked at each other for a moment. Before she had time to think about what just happened, he had leaned back in for another kiss. This one was more passionate than the last one. This one was more like the one they shared on Casino Night. She put her arms around his neck as she leaned into the kiss. He threaded his fingers through her curls as he tilted her face to deepen the kiss. She ran her fingers through is shaggy, golden hair as he gently moved them so the he was hovering on top of her.

They continued to make out on the couch before either of them realized that someone was at the door. They broke apart and starred at each other for a second, registering what had just happened. There was another knock at the door before Jim removed himself from the couch and allowed her to sit up while he went and paid for their food. While he was away, it gave Pam some time to think. She realized that kissing Jim was the most wonderful thing she had done in a while.

She was smiling when Jim came back to the couch with the pizza and a couple of plates and napkins. They started eating when Jim suggested they watch TV. She agreed as he turned on the television and surfed through the channels. When they agreed on a movie that was on one of the channels, they continued to eat and watch the movie, sharing a comment here and there during the film.

When the movie was over, Jim turned off the TV and took the empty pizza box to the trash can and returned to living room with some mixed berry yogurt and handed it to her.

"Wow, thanks! I was just craving for some actually. I still can't believe that you knew this was my favorite flavor." She said as she eagerly began to eat it.

"Hey, I notice things."

"I do have to say that it's a little odd that you notice things like this. People might start to think you're a stalker or something."

"Well, if I didn't notice such things, you wouldn't be eating that yogurt right now."

She took another bite. "True and I thank you for that."

She finished off the yogurt and set the empty container on the table and leaned back in to the couch. She turned to look at Jim and noticed that he was starring at her. "What? Is there something on my face?" she asked as she lifted her hand to wipe the imaginary stuff that was on her face.

"No, I'm just thinking about how happy I am that you're here."

Pam smiled and leaned over to kiss him. He kissed her back and eventually they found themselves where they left off before the pizza guy showed up. He pushed her back onto the couch and was on top of her as their kiss deepened. His hands were roaming all over her body, and she couldn't decide where to put her hands. She loved to feel his hair, and his chest and his arms were so muscular. She loved it all.

They continued for about thirty minutes before they decided to take a break from each other. Pam looked at her watch and noticed that it was getting late.

"Gosh, I don't want to go to work tomorrow!" She groaned.

"Yeah I know me neither."

"I think I should be getting home."

"Um, okay sure. I'll walk you out."

They got up from the couch and walked over to the door. Before opening the door she turned to him. "I had a great night Jim. If you want, I would like to do this again sometime."

"I would like that too. How about tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Yeah, just let me know where we're going at work."

"Alight Beesly. I'll see you tomorrow then." He leaned down and gave a soft, sweet, yet short, kiss before she turned towards the door.

"Night Jim."

"Night Pam."

The next day Pam was already at her desk when Jim walked in. Neither of them could stop smiling once they saw each other. He hung his coat on the coat rack like normal and stopped by her desk and said his usual morning greeting. He went to his desk and emailed her their plans for that night.

When lunch came, Jim went to the break room and was sitting at the table for a few minutes when Karen walked in and sat with him.

"Hey Halpert."

"Hey Karen."

Jim saw Pam walk in and sit down at a nearby table, facing him, and began to eat her lunch.

"So, when are you going to show me around the town?" Karen asked as she bit into a potato chip. "Is tonight good for you?"

"Um, no actually tonight isn't really a good night. I've got a date actually." He looked up and saw the look on Karen's face as he said that.

"Oh, I thought you said you were single."

"Yeah, I was. Remember how I told you that I was meeting an old friend last night?" Pam was listening to what they were saying. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she was kind of hoping that Jim wouldn't start telling people that they were seeing each other, at least not yet. "Well, I've had a thing for her for a while and when I saw her last night, she informed me that she had these feelings too. But when I was here last time, she was in a committed relationship with someone else and she would have felt guilty if she left him for me. So I moved and didn't really get a chance to talk to her before I left and if I did, I would have found out that they weren't together anymore. So we're going to try this and see where it goes."

Karen was hurt. She was hoping somewhat that maybe she and Jim could get together. But they didn't really know each other that well and if he has liked this girl for a while, she figured she could let it slide. "Oh I see. Well, good for you Jim. I'm happy for you."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I mean come on. It kind of sounds like she left that guy for you and any girl who does that is really into you." Jim looked up to Pam who was staring at him. She knew he knew she was listening and when they made eye contact, she gently nodded to let him know that Karen was right. Pam did leave Roy for him because she knew that he was the one.

"Yeah, and I'm kind of really into her also." He smiled at Pam briefly for a moment before continuing to eat his sandwich.

They finished eating their lunches and returned to work. When 5:20 came, everyone had left except for Jim and Pam. He walked up to her desk and asked if she was ready to go.

"Yup, lead the way Halpert."

They began to walk out of the office together. Before they left, Pam turned out the lights and locked the door. When they resumed walking, Jim grabbed her hand as they walked out of the building together.

They didn't know what would happen next, all they knew was that wherever they were headed, they'd be arriving there together.


End file.
